Tiny Team Mate
by SkyeZ
Summary: Hinata has been turned into a kid by a mysterious enemy! What will her friends do and how will they return her to normal?  This is just a test run story :
1. Chapter 1

**In case I ever lose my flash drive again or if I have no idea what to write, I have two new stories that I will write and update when ever I feel like it. Lol. Its good to have a back up story, just to write in when your out of ideas. Something to make things fresh again. I often did this last year when me and my friend where writing out own little stories, kept my head fresh and full of ideas and what I could change XD**

**Don't OWN Naruto**

**I'm a Hinatafanatic, so my stories involve Hinata. Does anyone wanna see another couple focused on or something? It may not be as great, but I'm willing to give it a shot.**

**~Signing in Skye~  
Summary: Hinata, Kiba and Shino are coming back from a mission. But why isn't Hinata with them, and what's with the kid?**

Ch.1

Our Tiny Team Mate

"Kiba, what is this?" Shino asked, while moving his glasses back to their perch on his nose with his fingers.

"How am I supposed to know?" Kiba barked. Akumaru sniffed at the sleeping girl. Her hair was a dark indigo and short cropped near her head in a 'hime-cut' **(A/N: I really have heard ppl call Hinata's short hair a hime-style)**, her skin pale. A small girl. A small girl that look a lot like Hinata.

"Mmmnn…" she mumbled as she began to wake.

Akumaru barked. "It's her." Kiba translated bewildered. "But, what wrong with her?" He questioned Shino who could only shrug at his confused doggy friend.

"I-s so-mething w-wong with m-me?" A small familiar stutter sounded through the tent. Shino and Kiba turned their heads to her. Hinata's moonlight eyes were now filled with tears as she realized, she didn't recognize these two strangers! She sat up and rubbed at the tears in her eyes and the blanket rolled down to reveal that her normal cloths had all but slid off, to big for her now.

Akumaru instantly went over to her and started licking her face in his doggish comfort. Hinata began to giggle and the tears dried up. She held the big dog's neck in a hug and placed her cheek against his warm fur.

"Who awe you" She asked in a childish way, unable to fully pronounce her words yet. Kiba looked a little sad so Shino took up her question.

Bending down to her level, he spoke calm as ever, "I'm Shino, and this here is Kiba. The dog you're holding is Akumaru." She stared at him and nodded her head. With a smile she spoke to him.

"Hinawta Hyugwa. Thwee. Where's daddy?" She began to cry again realizing she must be really far from home.

"It's okay." Kiba bent down with Shino, initial shock gone. "We're going home right now. You can trust us Hinata, we're your team mates." He gave her a big grin and she returned it with a small smile and a blush. Rubbing sleep out of her eyes, she stared at him.

"So now what?" Kiba questioned Shino.

"Take her Lady Hokage, she may know what's happened."

"Am I i-in twouble?" Hinata asked sadly.

"No." Shino assured her.

"Wait, what do we dress her in?" Kiba wondered. "This was supposed to be a one day trip to the village of tea."

"Give her you jacket." Shino suggested. Kiba thought about it. His jacket was clean, and warm. It would probably fit her like a blanket.

"Okay." Kiba laughed. "Hey, Hinata, come over her."

Hinata stopped playing with Akumaru and shyly walked over to Kiba. She liked the two boys, they were nice to her. Kiba, trying not to think of the older 16 year old Hinata, helped Hinata ease her small arms into the jacket and then zipped it up.

"That'll have to do." Shino said, already done packing up the tent and sleeping bags. He asked his bugs to place Hinata's cloths away. He wanted a peak, after all he was still a teen boy, but Hinata was a good friend and that would be wrong.

"Ready?" He questioned them with an eyebrow raised.

"Yup," Kiba bent down and picked up Hinata who giggled happily and snuggled closer to him wrapping her small arms around hir neck in a quick hug. "And so is little Hina-chan." He laughed and placed her on top of Akumaru who turned and licked her face happily.

Hinata laughed and patted his back.

"Hold on tightly," Kiba warned, she nodded and did as she was told. "Just don't pull his fur."

"I w-wouldn't pu-wll Akumaw-us ha-ir." She laughed.

"Good." Shino said, "Lets go."

The jumped along and Hinata laughed at the feeling.

"It's l-like fwy-ing!" She laughed happily. Kiba laughed with her and started showing her small tricks he could do as he tumbled, fell and swirled in the air.

Shino sighed at his childish antics but hid a smile behind his jacket.

After a while Hinata began to get sleepy so Kiba carried her in his arms.

"Almost there?" He aske.

"The gates right there." Shino pointed up ahead of them.

"Yeah!" he cheered silently so not to wake little Hinata.

They arrived at the open gates to see Naruto and Sakura making it back from their own mission. It seemed he had said something to make Sakura mad again and Naruto was holding her back.

"Oh!" Naruto said and gave us his idiot grin looking for the distraction. He waved his hand and Sakura turned to us. "What's up?"

We stopped briefly to say hi. Hinata's stirred against Kiba's chest.

"Where's Hinata?" Sakura questioned worriedly.

Hinata giggled and the three look over to her as her head pooped out and she stared at them with familiar pale eyes. Hinata grabbed Kiba shirt and then waved to them shyly.

"Its tha-" Naruto's blue eyes were wide in surprise.

"Yup." Shino answer as Hinata asked Kiba to be let down.

"What-"

"Don't know" Kiba interrupted. "We woke up and this is what happened."

He placed Hinata on the ground, he jacket reaching almost to the ground and the sleeves rolled up. She held him hand and looked at the others shyly.

"H-hewo." She blushed, waving to them. Sakura and Naruto gave a 'hi' back, eyes still wide in shock. She giggled and turned to Kiba. "N-ow can I s-see da-ddy?" She begged.

For Kiba and Shino this was new. It wasn't that she didn't love her dad, it's just that he was the cause of so much pain for her. Guess all of that hadn't happened yet. Not to her three year old self.

"We're going to see Lady Hokage first." Kiba told her.

She frowned. "Am I i-n two-ble?"

"No," Shino answered her again.

"You said your going to see the Hokag?" Naruto asked.

"We just saw Neji and Hiashi heading over there." Sakura added. Hinata beamed at this, but then blushed as her stomach growled.

"Look's like someone hungry!" Naruto laughed and placed his hand on his belly. "Come on guys, lets go eat some r-"

"No dork," Kiba sighed, "Hokage first." Naruto pouted and Hinata giggled.

"I have a chocolate bar if your hungry Hinata." Sakura said. Hinata looked at her suspiciously but let go of Kiba's hand and walked over to her.

"Dadd-y s-says n-o candwy fw-om str-angwrs." But the look on her face said other wise and Sakura giggled.

"Were not stranger's sweetie," Sakura handed her the chocolate bar and opened it for her, "We're your friends." Hinata nodded taking in the information and happily ate the chocolate bar.

"So she doesn't remember us?" Naruto asked sadly.

Shino and Kiba shook their heads. "Remember, little Hinata hasn't met us yet. She was always in the compound at this age, so if she has met any of us, then it was an accident."

"Well, then I'm Naruto Uzimake, the future Hokage!" Naruto declared to her and she stared at him with wide believing eyes. Sakura slapped him in the back of the head.

"Saukura Haruno." She said politely.

"What kids do you know?" Kiba asked Hinata curiously taking her other hand and walking down the street towards the Hokage's office. Naruto and Sakura tagged along.

She pointed to Naruto and giggled.

The three gave him a questioning look as Naruto tired to remember.

"That's it!" He said loudly causing a few passerby's to look at him. "When I was little I once climbed over the Hyuga walls and fell on their little hime…" he stared wide eyed. "That was her!" He said surprised pointing to Hinata who was to busy eating her chocolate.

"Idiot." Sakura mumbled.

Naruto laughed it off and continued. "I came by to play with her sometimes after that till they placed the guards up who specifically kept me from getting inside." He laughed sheepishly with his hand behind his head.

"Okay…" Kiba said slowly.

"I also know Shika." Hinata stated.

Shino explained this. "Shikamaru often went with his dad when he had business elsewhere. To learn the trade or something like that, most likely just to get away from his mom in reality."

The others opened their moths in an O of surprise.

Hinata couldn't remember anyone else besides Neji-ni-san. And anyways they were beside the Hokage's office. Instead of knocking Naruto barged in waving his hands franticly. Kiba and Shino sighed, Sakura hit him up side the head.

"What is it Naruto, I'm busy." Tsunade grumbled pointing to Hiashi and Neji. Secretly happy for the distraction.

Naruto bent down and lifted Hinata to his side and rushed over to Tsunade. Hinata giggled. "Grandma Tsunade! Somethings wrong with Hinata!" He stated.

Tsunade looked from Naruto to the kid on his side. Shino and Kiba rushed over with Sakura who scolded him. Nothing seemed to click for this image till Neji said, "Hinata-sama?"

Hinata turned her head and looked at him curiously. He looked like Neji-ni-san, but he was to big. She nodded her head, burying it in Naruto's shoulder to hide her blush.

"Your…" Hiashi began but couldn't find the words. After all, his daughter was a child!

"What happened?" Neji asked walking over to them. Naruto sat her on Tsunades desk much to said person's annoyance.

"Don't know." Kiba shrugged.

"We woke up this morning and she was like this."

"S-something's wr-ong?" Hinata's pale eyes began to tear up.

"No, no." Naruto assured her with his famous smile. "everything's fine." He bent down and pointed to Neji.

"That boy there is Neji all grown up, and that's your dad." Narutop said pointed out each person. "The lady behind you is grandma Tsunade."

"Naruto…" Tsuande warned.

Hinata smiled happily, but liking her perch on the table to much didn't go to see her dad and Neji. Just waved to them happily.

Tsunade walked up and grabbed the others so that they were speaking in a circle a little distance away from Hinata.

"What happened Kiba, Shino." Hiashi demanded.

"We really don't know sir." Shino said.

"We went to her tent to see why she was still asleep, when we got there, that's what we saw." Akumaru who had joined the huddle backed in agreement.

"Th-is tastes y-yucky." Hinata's small voice sounded from behind them.

They turned around to see that she held Tsunade's famous sake bottle in her hand.  
"I d-don't like it…" Hinata looked at it with distaste.

"Good!" Tsunade said and grabbed the bottle. "Never drink anything like this again."

Hinata, already feeling the effects giggled and nodded before jumping down off the table and running to Akumaru to play. She fell before she reached him and started giggling.

"Never let her drink." Tsuande said as a reminder. They nodded. Shino and Kiba who had actually seen her drunk once by a playful prank, were never going to repeat it. The two boys had thought they would have a heart attack when they found her in a lake face down. She said she was swimming. Then she got cold and tried to undress. Nope, never again were they giving her a drink.

She sighed and watched the giggled girl and placed the sake up away from the curious girl.

"What now?" Neji asked. Looking at his little cousin.

Tsunade sighed. "Take her home, I'll figure it out. Try and see if she remembers anything." She turned to Kiba and Shino. "You two, write down full reports, I don't want to miss a thing." She then turned back to Hiashi and Neji. "Let her sleep that off, she'll be fine in the morning."

Hinata's giggles reached their ears.

"Got it?"

"Yes lady Hokage."

"Sure grandma."

"Naruto be respectful."

"She's an old lady! That is respectful."

"S-so her n-ame is Gr-andma?" Hinata beamed from her place on the floor.

"Naruto…" Tsuande glared at him. "You're dead meat." With that Naruto took of running and Tsunade hot on his heels.

"How was I supposed to know she'd copy me!" He tired to make up an excuse.

"Doesn't matter!" Tsuanade hollered.

"Well then." Hiashi coughed lightly to turn everyone's attention back to him.

"Hi daddy!" Hinata said happily and ran to hug him. Hiashi bent down on instinct and lifted her to his side where Hinata hugged him, still giggling away.

"Me and Neji will take her home." He said.

"I w-ant to p-play wi-th Kiba-ni and Shino-ni." Hinata pouted rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"Later." Neji assured her, shooting a look at Hiashi to make sure. He gave a small nod. "Thank you for brining Hinata-sama back." Neji bowed to the others and walked off.

"Uncle."

"Yes?" Hiashi was staring at Hinata who was playing with his hair.

"Look's like you get that second chance."

"Yes…" He mumbled, with a hidden smile, "maybe."

"I'm h-hungry."

"We'll get you something to eat at the house." Hiashi told her. Hinata hugged her dad and then fell asleep in his arms as they walked home.

"Tomorrow Neji," Hiashi spoke shifting his daughter ever so softly, "will you buy her cloths? I do not think we have anything for her to wear."

"Yes Uncle." Neji smiled.

**#####**

**This is my new story. I hope you like it, lol. But it will be updated randomly. XD**

**Please review and vote for your fav couple!**

**~Sigining off Skye~**


	2. Chapter 2

**/I should have updated this long ago, i just didn't know what to do with the story. Now, my computer has a virus**

**Before hand, ima apologize for any mispelling, because, well, i suck at spelling and i cant find spell check on here.**

**Please read and review**

**I hope you like it!**

**Signing in sky**

Morning Nee-chan

*Neji*

"Wake up, wake up!" Someone was rather annoyingly shaking my shoulder. Hanabi. "Dang it Neji wake up!"

I groaned. Today I had been dreaming of TenTen. It was after traing and weapons lay scatered all over the ground. That wasn't what made me so happy this morning. Me and TenTen had been making out, red and panting from training and our little session. Opening my blurry eyes I glared at Hanabi.

"What?" I mumbled.

Her pale eyes were wide, pale face slightl sunburnt from her time training outside and she stood tall and proud. The image was made funny with he long tangled bed hair and crumpled light green pj's. She stood pointing at her right leg impatiently waiting for me to look at her leg.

Looking down I saw a small tired kid holding onto her leg with a vise grip. Little Hinata, wearing one of my shirts that went down to her ankles, rubbing one eye to get rid of sleep.. I statred laughing. Hanabi didn't know becasue she had come home late, and Hinata had probably just crawled into her bed looking for me or her dad.

"N-nii-san!" Hinata let go of Hanabi and jumped into my bed, snuggaling into my chest. I sat up and help her in my lap.

"Don't worry Hanabi, it's only Hinata." I couldn't hide my smirk when he jaw fell open like a gaping fish in disbelief.

Rolling my eyes amused at the predicament I looked at Hinata's confused face. Of course she wouldn't know Hanabi, it kind of made me sad. Hanabi was her sister after all, but in her mind, Hanabi has never even exsited yet.

"Hinata, that's your sister Hanabi." She hid in my chest, giving her a curious look.

"Nee-chan?" She giggled.

"You're kidding, thats Hinata?" Hanabi managed to get out.

"Yeah." So I ended up explaining to her what we knew so far. Hanabi could only stand there bewildered.

"So no one knows what happened?"

"Not a clue."

"They just woke up and she was like this?"

"Hn."

"N-nii-san, nee-chan," Hinata looked at us.

"Yes Hinata?"

"Hunwry." Her brows nit together in frustration when she realized she had said the word wrong. "Hun..ga...ry." This time she took her time to say it and turned to me with a big smile. I grinned with her.

"Okay. Let's eat."

*Hanabi*

Neji led the way to the kitchen holding Hinata's little hand. This was strange, my older sister was now my _younger _sister. Walking into the dining room, which was fairly normal considrering out family rep Neji placed her on a chair.

"Now, Hanabi will watch you while I cook some breakfast." He turned to me with a small wave and walked into the kitchen door.

"F-four."

I turned my attention back to Hinata and took the seat next to her. Leaning my elbows on the table i placed my head in my hands and asked her, "Four what?"

"Me, daddy," I had never heard her say anyhting other then father, "n-nee-chan and nii-san." She pointed a delicate finger to each chair around the table. She cast me a confused gaze. I found that I really couldn't help but think how cute she was!

"Yeah," Neji walked back in, "Something wrong with four chairs?" He put a bowl in front of her and then me and one for himself while he sat across from us. It was oatmeal.

Hinata laugh happily, problem forgoten and started to eat casutiously. I noticed that hers had milf in it. I never knew she liked milk in her oatmeal, like me. In fact, there's a lot I still don't know about her. Only over the past two years have I really tried to bond with my sister. It wasn't enough to understand that sad look she carries, that she tires to hide.

Looking at her this morning, easting happily from a small wooden bowl. It was the first time I had truley seen her look so free. She wasn't trying to hide that look.

She pushed the bowl away. _"Heh, seems she still eats like a bird though. It's not even half gone." _

"Where's m-mommy?"

Both me and Neji stared in shock at eachother. Mom. A person I never knew, a woman who died bring me to life. Hinata didn't know at this age that she was dead, and that it was my fault. To her, mom was still here, should be here. Instead, it'll be me.

"Oh!" She blushed and hopped down to the floor. "P-potty." Turning around she ran down out the kitchen door and it shut behind her.

I looked at Neji's pale eyes and he at mine.

"What do we say?" I finally blurted out to cut out the awkward scilence.

"I...I don't know." He admited with his head down.

"She has to know."

"Yes." I could hear a 'but' in there. "But," there it is, "she's three, not five, how will she take it?"

"You mean she could react diffrent?" I'm sure she cried when mom died and if we were to tell her now, she'd still cry. But i could see his point. A five year old girl knew a bit more then a three year old girl. Naive as the ages were, the reastions could still be diffrent.

"I just dont want her to hurt like that again." I could understand that reasoning.

"Still," I looked at my fingers which which had turned white as i squeezed my hands together. "She still needs to know that mom is dead." It was a fact that we couldn't hide. Plus, how long would she be like this? what if we had to raise her all over again? Could we really hide it then?

A little off in the distance was the sound of running feel and the slaming of a door. No, it couldn't be could it? Neji must have had the same startaling realization as me, becasue we both suddenly had our byakugans activated.

Running out the gate, her bare feet slapping the ground and tears spilling out of her eyes was Hinata.

"Oh sh-"

I jumped up and inturupted him. "Hurry up Neji!"

Without another word we ran out the door. We did a stupid thing though. We forgot to reactivate out byakugan.

**##**

**Here it is! I really hope y'all liked it.**

**Please review:) and i'll try and update more storys soon! Be on the lookout for them!**

**Signing off Skye**


	3. Chapter 3

**So i see how you all liked this! Here it is :)**

**thanks for reading, please review.**

**DoNOT own Naruto**

**Signing in SKye**

Ch. 3

Mommy

*Normal POV*

_"It's not true! Not true! Not true! Not true!" _Poor little Hinatas' mind was in turmoil. Nothing made sence. So she did the first thing that came to mind. Run!

So she ran down the street aiming for the dence thick trees. Bare feet slapping the ground, Neji's shirt swishing around her legs. Her small body let out heaving heart reching sobs.

She could handlle that she woke up with strangers, only becasue they were nice. She could handle that Neji was mysteriously older and the fact that she had a sister. What she couldn't handle -what she couldn't believe- was that her mommy was dead.

"Mommy!" She wailed sadly, stumbling on clumsy feet.

The woods became closer and she dashed into the woods. The sun stopped blaring on her head and the world was cast into shadows and scilence. All except her heart breaking sobs.

She couldn't shee becasue her tears. Running blindly firther from civilization. Eventually, surprisingly so that it didn't happen sooner, she fell over a tree root. Falling down a small incline through the bushes and rolling to a rough stop.

When she finally stopped rolling on a clear patch of green grass, her body ached and burned from scrapes and bruises. With nothing else to do but lay there and cry, she tunred on her back with a yelp of pain. The sun shone through the green trees sending shadows down to tickle her body.

"Mo-mom-my." She was tired now, as little kids often are after a good cry. "Where awe y-you?" Hinata sobbed quietly and her eyes started to droop.

"Maybe I know where she is." A cruel voice snapped her up and she sat with a start looking about for the cruel voice. "Your dear sweet mommy." He mocked making the small girl cringe.

The voice turned out to be a tall lanky man standing haughtly on a tree branch above her. He had cold blue eyes that started into her. "So why don't you go ahead and come with me, make this easy." He looked down at her, his nose straight and thin, eyes alert and thing lips in a cold smirk on his gaunt face.

He scared her. Cold eyes blaring into her as if she were no more then a bug at his feet. Hosently it frightened her so much, making her want to cry again. And she did, but this time once more she ran. Reaching up her hands to grab any hand hold she could, placing her toes in any foot hold she could. Anything for an extra booth of speed, but she only ended up cutting her hands and feet.

"No you don't!" He reached through the bushes she had ducked through. "Didn't go through all this trouble of shrinking you just to lose those eyes!" His laugh was mad. Really, he was just messing with her. Being a full trained ninja he could easily catch the kid.

But he underestimated her. Hinata had a natural agility good for waving in and out of trees, plus her small size meant she could weave in and out of the smaller places. She could gather a small amount of chakra into her eyes, not enough for a full byakuganm but enough to see him. And instinct. Little Hinata had never been out this far, but older Hinata had. Leaving her with a feeling of de ja vu. Enough to know that as the trees became smaller, that could only mean she was close to the town. So she screamed and cried for help. With one last burst of speed she fell out of the trees and into the bright world.

Thud!

Hands grabbed her while she fell from the impact. Eyes tightly closed she kicked and screamed.

"Hinata!" She knew that worried voice. Another fact in this world she had woken up to. Peaking open her eyes she looked up to find Naruto's sky blue eyes gazing at her. Another person who had grown up without her. Atleast he was someone safe, taking opportunity of the warmth around her and the saftey of his arms she sobbed into his chest.

_"I still want my mommy."_

**#####**

**Here it is :) **

**hope y'all liked. please review and thanks for reading.**

**signing out skye**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for reading :)**

**sorry these are short, but my hand got tired of writing it on paper so i cut them short, :) it makes things a bit more intresting sometimes thow**

**Please review:)**

**Do NOT own NAruto**

**Signing in Skye**

**###**

Ch.4

Sob

*Naruto*

At first when she bumped into me, it didn't register that it was Hinata. That was until she started screaming and kicking at me.

"Hinata!" I grabbed her attention and she stopped still, opening her eyes to look at me.

Her body shivered in my arms, red eyes still crying. Scrapes and briuses flashed painfully in front of me whis she sobbed into my chest.

"So this is tiny Hinata you've told us about!" Lee declared loudly, causing Hinata to shudder. I had almost forgot about him behind me. Shikamaru, Lee and me were on our way to Ichiraku to mee Ino, Sakura and choji, Even Kiba said he and Shino might come along to.

"Dang." Shika whistled. "Didn't really expect you to be telling the truth. What a drag."

Ignoring them both I hugged the sobbing girl closer to me. Rocking back and forth rubbing her back in soothing circles she clung to my jacket. I leaned down a little and whispered sweet words in her ear.

"Sshh, sshh." I soothed. "It'll be okay Hinata. It'll be fine."

"Where is Neji little Hinata?" Lee bent down and kindly asked her. She cried harder.

"Good going Lee." Shikamaru gave him a small push.

I continued to rock her back and forth. "Can you tell me what happened?" I asked when her sobs turned to quiet sniffles. "Hinata?" She shook her head and turned to look fearfully at the woods.

"H-he's gone." She slumped in my arms. I stood and held her on my side and she leaned her head on my shoulder.

"Did you run from Neji?" Shikamaru looked her over. "You know you're still in your nightgown."

When she didnt answer him, I mentally slapped myself. She didn't know these two boys, so of course she wouldn't answer. "This is Shikamaru and Lee. Good friends of ours Hinata."

"H-hi." She mumbbled shyly blushing.

"Well," I turned to face then while Hinata tried to burry herself in my side. "What do we do?"

"Let's go to Sakura first. Hinata's not too badly hurt," the lazy boy leaned against a wall, "but thats a lot of harsh scrapes. Then we find Neji."

"My friend Neji must be worried about Hinata!" Lee explained dramaticly. I had already explained to them the whole 'Hinata is a kid now' deal, so I was glad they could try and act normal around her. Well, as normal as you can when your sixteen year old friend turned into a three year old kid.

"No!" She yelled then burried herself deeper into my shoulder. "N-nii-san has to twak is b-back!"

"Take what back?" Carfully I eased out of my jacket and zipped her up in it. Sure enough she hid inside, covering herself up to her eyes so that all she had to do was peak out from the top.

"Mommy isn't dead." She whispered, leaning against me.

We couldn't really say anything to that. Hinata's mom died when she was five, but to Hinata now with her three year old mind, her mom was alive. That just wasn't how it was and we couldn't really tell her difrently. What were we to say? _'Oh yeah Hinata, Neji was telling the truth. Your mom is dead. D-E-A-D.' _No, that would send her running off again. And I had a bad feeling that theres something in those woods she hadnt told us about yet.

So we turned ouselves in the direction of Ichiraku and walked over there. We would ask her questions later. For now, it just seem best to let her chill for a little bit.

**####**

**I'm going to try and make the next chapter longer. lol**

**this one is painfully short. **

**please review**

**no flames about how short it is please!**

**thanks for reading :)**

**signing off skye**


	5. Chapter 5

**I am so glad a lot of people like this! Thanks you guys!**

**school has started, and even thow i got my internet back, it'll still be (hopefully not) long times to update. Sigh. the joys of having ap, pre-ap and two science classes eh? Junior year, here i am! lol**

**Please read and review:)**

**Do NOT own Naruto**

**####**

Ch.6

The Bad Man

*Sakura*

"So you're not kidding us!" Ino asked for the fifth time with wide blue eyes. I was and had already explained to her and Choji about Hinata and the weird case that followed.

It didn't really seem to bother them to much, after all, the ninja world can be very strange. Choji just sat and slurped the 'oh-so-famous" Ichiraku ramen. Ino on the other hand wanted to squeeze out every last drop of information out of me.

"Yes I'm very sure Ino-pig!"She gave me a quick glare, but before she could retaliate, Naruto walked in.

_'Naruto! I've never been so happy to see you!"_

Then I realized that he was quiet, freakishly so because he didn't give us a loud hello. In fact, the only reason I knew it was him was because I saw his hair through the little red curtains and his orange pants. And sitting on his side with her small arms draped around his neck and his jacket sleeves hanging down her head leaning against his shoulder and her indigo bangs swinging slightly was a sleeping kid.

"Naruto?" I asked him. Choji and Ino turned around and met him with wide eyes. That sleeping girl was Hinata, and it seemed that now they just got hit with the truth.

"Hey Sakura!" He whispered. Behind him Shikamaru shuffled in and Lee strutted in behind him both boys taking a seat.

Ino's mouth fell open. "Dang."

"Hey, Hinata." Naruto jostled her a little. She let out a cut tiny groan and opened her pale sleepy eyes. "Remember Sakura? She's ganna help heal those cuts." He the turned his head to me with wide blue puppy eyes. "Please?"

I could only nod while he set the sleepy girl on the counter between me and Ino. She started to sway, causing us to hold her steady. Not that she seemed to care, wiping sleep from her eyes.

"Naruto you idiot!" Ino yelled at him. "Make sure she's at least fully awake first!:

"Oh.." He rubbed the back of his neck. "My bad."

"H-hi." We turned out attention back to Hinata who was trying to hid in Naruto's jacket.

"Hey Hinata," Ino slimed. "I'm Ino," her smile faltered a little, but I had aslo explained the hole "Hinata-don't-remember-us" deal. "and this softy," she patted Choji's shoulder, "Is Choji!"

"Naruto said you were hurt?" She peaked out of the jacket so that I could only see her wide eyes. I reached my hands to the zipper.

"Can I see?" She nodded and I unzipped the jacket, easing it off her tiny shoulders.

Those tiny shoulder belonged to a friend of mine. How often had they shook with tears? I looked at her almost care free gaze, filled with the innocence of a child and free of the pain her life had brought her. She looked to Naruto and she didn't know of her deep seeded love that she could never tell him. Would it be better to leave her as a child and let her grow anew and free? Free of everything that tormented her?

"Damn, how'd she get this hurt?" Choji turned his attention to her battered body and winced. Hinata was covered in scrapes and bruises, they decorated her body. Her face had tiny scratches here and there and was covered with dirt, long scrapes ran down her arms and elbows, fingers raw. Her legs no different in dry caked blood.

"Hinata..." I mumbled but couldn't finish. How did a kid get so hurt? Hinata looked down at her body, arms moving in stiff movements. Suddenly the shock could be seen on her face and she started to sob.

"Here we go again." Shika sighed.

"Ino, hold her please?" Ino lifted the small girl on her lap and tired to sooth her while I healed her wounds with a chakra green hand.

"Hey Kiba! Yo Shino!" Naruto greeted the other boys walking in to meet us. "What's happin' Akamaru?"

"Dude, who's crying?" I focused on healing her wounds. Already I was at her knees and her crying turned to sniffles, watching my with awe in her eyes.

"It's Hinata," Shino told him.

I leaned back with a grin. "There you go Hinata." I noticed she was wearing a long shirt for a nightgown so I helped put her back in the jacket.

"T-thank wou." She mumbled wiping away tears.

"Hey look Hinata!" Naruto waved to her. "Want to say hi?" He pointed at he team mates. "They've been worried!"

She gave a quick sniffle to rid herself of her tears and hopped of Ino's lap. "H-hi." She stepped up closer.

Kiba bent down and nudged Akamaru toward her. The big white dog happily liked her nose and Hinata released a sweet honey giggle. She hugged the dog around the neck.

"Why all banged up Hina?" Kiba asked her, brown eyes worried.

For a second, she didn't answer. Just petted Akamaru with her pale eyes downcast.

"Well, you mentioned a 'he'." Shika told us. "And i'm sure it wasn't Neji because he wouldn't let you get hurt so bad. Plus, you were already running from him."

Hinata looked at each of us. With a final pat and a kiss on the dogs wet nose she walked up to Naruto and held up her arms. She looked so lost.

*Naruto*

I was confused while I lifted up Hinata to once again sit on my side. Why come to me? She wrapped her tiny arms around my neck. Maybe it was because I had calmed her down, I was someone safe to cling to.

"What did the bad man say?" Sakura kindly questioned her, green eyes worried.

She took a trembling breath. "Di-dn't gow t-through twouble of sh-hwinking you, to lose tho-ose eyes." She mimicked in a fake deep voice. Or as deep as her young high voice could get. Hinata squeezed me tighter.

_"Didn't go through the trouble of shrinking you to lose those eyes." _This had been done on purpose. For the sole reason of stealing this girls eyes.

"It makes scene." Shino mumbled.

"Of coarse," A voice popped out from behind us. "Only a main house member would not be sealed. Going up against a grown Hyuga would still take time and effort, even trying to get Hanabi would be hard." Neji and Hanabi walked up to us and Hinata squeezed in closer to me. "Taking a child, would be easier."

"Hello Hinata-chan." Hanabi smiled.

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	6. Chapter 6

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Ch.6

No

*Neji*

I hate to say it, but seeing tiny little Hinata squeezing in to Naruto as if she could disappear with her eyes tightly closed; it saddened me. Made my heart pang with guilt.

"Oh! Hey Neji!" Naruto greeted, casting a confused glance to the cowering girl.

"Hn."

"Hinata," Hanabi stepped up close to Naruto, "We've been worried sick!"

"We kind of figured that," Shikamaru said lazily, "but we brought her here first so Sakura could heal her scrapes and bruises." He gave us a knowing look.

"So someone really shrunk her, turned her into a kid with kami knows what jutsu just for her eyes?" Ino questioned.

I sighed, so many people. But I would have to tell Hiashi this news. "Hinata," I stepped near Hanabi, just a bit away from Naruto, "We need to take you home."

She didn't answer, just nuzzled her little head into Naruto. "Hinata?" He asked, his voice confused and he patted her back awkwardly.

"N-no!" She yelled into his shoulder. I was taken aback. Never, even when Hinata had been a child and as she had grown older, never had she told me or anyone older then her the word 'no', at least not where it was noticeable. And I could never imagine her saying it so loud, so expressive.

Then I became worried. Remembering the sweet shy little girl who grew up into a still sweet and shy girl, but strong in her own right. Would anything that happened to her _now, _would it affect her and make her different? Would all of this change her?

"Hinata." I said with a tone of forcefulness.

She grabbed onto Naruto. "Hey Neji, you're scaring her." He defended her and Hanabi nudged me.

"We need to take her home Naruto, even better, to Lady Tsunade to see if she's figured anything out!"

Hinata started to bawl, crying out heart reaching tears, her little shoulders shaking like a mighty earthquake. Every one else went quiet as they watched her cry, shocked by her tears.

"N-no!" She yelled. "Y-yow li-lied!" She opened her eyes briefly and I could see the pain and disbelief. "It's b-bad t-t-to l-lie nii-san! I w-want mom-my!"

I almost groaned aloud. This little three year old Hinata could not understand that her mom was dead. Long ago. To her mind, her mom is still here, still fresh, still warm and loving.

"Hey, hey," Naruto bumped her up and down softly, giving a big grin as she looked into his kind blue eyes, her lavender ones wide and big with tears leaking down. "You shouldn't be mean to Neji now Hinata," He whispered, "It's not good, but if you want, I can be mean to him for ya!" He bounced her up a little more, "or I can take you out for some dango, or somewhere else, I'm sure you don't want to play with an old meanie."

She sniffled and slowly a grin spread across her face, as if trying to match his own blinding idiot grin. Hinata nodded her head.

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded, a hand on her forehead exasperated. "At least get her cloths first."

"Does my opinion count in any of this?" I asked mildly, with Naruto, you kind of just learned to give up and let him do his thing. Besides, it did calm Hinata down and she wasn't calling me a liar anymore.

"Not at all." Now I was shocked that it was Hanabi who said it, a small smirk on her lips.

"Well," I sighed, defeated, "Bring her home before the sun sets." I couldn't give Naruto a time becasue he would forget.

"Great! Ya hear that Hinata?" Kiba cheered.

"And," I turned to walk out, "put all the money used on _Hinata _only," I turned a glare on Naruto and Choji with their fake innocent big eyes, "on the Hyuga tab."

Hanabi turned to follow me out, guessing like I had that Hinata may not want to be near us for a while. Especially when it reminded her of her mom, and hopefully today would have her forget. And then when that mess was done it wouldn't be to hard to distract her, admittedly though it made me feel like a con man for tricking my little cousin.

"Bai bai, n-nii-san." I turned to see Hinata waving at me with that open hand closed palm way little kids had. Her eyes were scared and guilty, she was hoping I wasn't angry at her. I chuckled and waved.

"We'll see you at home."

"Bye Hinata." Hanabi waved.

"k!" She called after us happily, glad that we weren't mad. If only that wasn't her biggest problem.

*Kiba*

"Okay!" Naruto turned around, still jostling little Hinata a big and smiled. "Now what?"

"W-wanna p-p-pway." Hinata whispered into his ear, tugging softly at his shirt with a tiny fist and a cute blush to her small cheeks. Everything about Hinata had been so minimized.

"We need to buy you some cloths first," Ino told her sweetly with a curve to her lips.

"Common boys, or anyone coming," Sakura said, pushing Naruto out, "we're going shopping."

It soon turned out that the girls absolutely _adored _shopping for Hinata. Little Hinata complied to everything they said and dressed her in, little dresses and skirts and play shorts and shirts. She stood there quietly eyes alight at everything going on, watching Ino and Sakura fret about over the tiny girls cloths that seemed way to cute to exist. I thought I was going to die because of all the pink! Thankfully Hinata didn't seem to like pink either and often crinkled her nose at it. Like Akamaru does when he smells something he doesn't like.

Naruto stood by holding the bags the had loaded him with while we laughed.

"Shut up!" He shouted, embarrassed at holding these pink and purple bags.

"Sure sure," I waved a hand, pointing him out to the other boys, "doesn't he look great holding those bags?" They chuckled.

"When did you go gay?" Naruto questioned me, eyebrows raised in alert.

I gaped. "I'm not gay you stupid idiot!"

"S-Sakura-nee-chan, K-Kiba-nii s-said bawd w-word." Hinata whispered to the pinkett from behind us. We turned around to see what they had found for Hinata to wear and she was just so...so..._kami take me now_...she was so cute!

It seemed Hinata had put up a fight to wear a jacket, they were like a safety net to her. I learned this a few years back when her back had gotten hurt and me and Shino were fretting about trying to fix it. She clutched her coat to her chest like a teddy bear.

This time Hinata was wearing a white hoodie the top pulled over her head with bunny ears bouncing on the top, flopping over sideways and over the front swaying as she moved. It even had a tiny little puffy cloud at the end of the hoodie! She wore some blue shorts and brand new blue sandals. Her big lavender eyes staring at us so innocently.

"Yeah Kiba," Lee nudged me, "shouldn't say bad words in front of kids. It's very un-youthful."

"Oh." Naruto laughed at me. "Sorry Hinata." She beamed, telling me all was forgiven.

"Hinata!" Naruto told her, dropping the bag much to Sakura and Ino's distaste. "You look...uh, whats the word?"

"Cute?" Shino offered. Never would I thought to hear that word pop out of his mouth. And in such a monotone way! Yeah, nightmare material.

"Yeah! You look cute!" Hinata's grin only seemed to get wider and she rushed away from Sakura's hand and jumped into Naruto who caught her mid air.

"R-really!" She laughed.

Maybe it was shock we were feeling then. Hinata had never acted like that, and of course being anywhere near Naruto had caused her to faint. But then again, if I thought about it, we didn't know Hinata as a kid. And while she was still shy and quiet and blushed really easily, she had more energy. That boundless amount of energy of a puppy. Or a toddler.

_Idiot, she is a toddler right now."_

I sighed. "You confused?" Shino asked, "You have that confused look Kiba."

I grunted. "Maybe." Hinata was laughing again, sweet and tickling as a chime. Sakura was scolding Naruto as he placed Hinata on his shoulders and she waved a hand down at us from her new height looking like a little bunny.

"Hey," Shikamaru voiced, "have you guys wondered how this might affect her in tottal?"

"How so?" Choji looked at him and we turned to. His brown eyes thoughtful and brow creased.

"The Hinata we know." He then explained. "People are made up of their experiences and memories. Their environments. Or at least that's half of it. Hinata has memories of being shy and looked down upon, not interacting with many people. She knew the consequences of failure at a young age and if I remember right some of the older kids would tease her."

"But, this is different?" Ino had come up into the conversation, Sakura and Naruto right behind her.

"Yes," He waved at Hinata who waved shyly back, "these aren't like _her _memories. There's people, she being helped, she's being talked to, no one is picking on her. These are all new memories with drastic differences. Don't you wonder if they'll affect her?"

"Oh." Lee's mouth was wide open, now where was that comical fly?

"Well..." I mumbled.

"I don't think it matters." Naruto popped out. "When it happens, it happens, and we'll deal with it." He looked up at Hinata who had a light hold on his blond hair.

"R-right?" She gazed down confused, cheeks puffing out a little as she held her breath and gave as much serious thought over what he was asking. "Ah...rig-ght!"

"Great." He turned and started walking out. "If you busy bodies want to talk, fine by me, we're going to the park!"

"Yay!" Hinata cheered silently. Akamaru ran after then.

"Wait for me!" I followed, rushing to catch up with Naruto.

"Idiots! Don't run off!"

While we were jumping away, I thought I caught a wiff of something strange, before it disappear. _Probably just Naruto._

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	7. Chapter 7

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Ch.7

Childcare

*Naruto*

Hinata pushed the swing out with all her might, swaying her legs back and forth to go higher and her little bunny ears flopping with the wind. At first she had wanted me to push her, but when she saw Sakura and Ino idly swinging on their own, she insisted she try it herself. So I sat on the swing beside her and showed her how to push up and make the swing go faster.

"Naru-kun!" She laughed out, shortening my name so she could say it easier.

"Yes!" I called back, reaching up a hand to tap her sandals while she swung herself higher. She squealed happily and aimed at my up stretched hand.

"Catch m-me!" Before I could blink she was up in the air, her arms out stretched and falling fast.

Little Hinata was a lot of fun. She didn't have any of her old fears or insecurity, at least no so bad, and she was kind with an almost honest fault with boundless amounts of energy. The problem though, she was three and didn't understand the consequences of- lets say- jumping out of a swing at high speed.

"Hinata!" Kiba called out in shock causing everyone to turn their heads with mouths doping.

I reached up my arms and her small light body landed into my hands. Hinata could only laugh, but then my feet lost their balance and I fell hard onto my back, keeping her secure to my chest so she wouldn't get jostled about. Thankfully, this playground was filled with sand.

"Yow kay?" Hinata asked me quietly.

I opened my eyes and sat up with a groan. "Yeah, just fine."

"Oh man, are you two okay!" Ino rushed up and her and Sakura both gave me a hard hit to the head.

"Ow!" I rubbed my sore head. "What was that for!"

Sakura glared at me and checked over Hinata for wounds while Ino stood there with her arms crossed over her chest in a bossy scolding manner.

"Why didn't you watch her?"

"I was picking daises." I joked. Earning another painful bonk to the head. "Ow!"

"Uh, guys..." Shikamaru sighed and pointed to Hinata who sat in my lap.

Looking over at her, her eyes had gone wide and we quickly filling with tears while her bottom lip shivered. Wearing the cute bunny jacket only added to the affect of her tears.

"What wrong Hinata?" Kiba bent down on the other side of me while Sakura kept a steady hand on Hinata's back. She only cried harder, hands coming to her eyes to rub at the tears falling down her cheeks. One little fist rubbed her left eye trying to stall the tears and another open palm was placed over her right eye as if trying to stop it all together.

"N-N-Narwto-kun in t-twoub-ble 'casue me!" She wailed. "Sowwy, s-sowwy! Wont j-jump no mowr."

"Aw crud." Ino mumbled.

"You guys shouldn't have hounded Naruto, kids are a lot more sensitive to these situations." Shikamaru mumbled.

"Why didn't you tell us! How do you even know that?" He shrugged.

I blew air out of my cheeks. Probably another downside to this. Kids needed more attention, I never knew how high maintenance they were, how much care they needed, always having to keep your eye on them. Hinata was great, younger Hinata was good to, it's just I had never been around kids. It was all fine and dandy to be her play mate, but taking care of a kid was real new to me.

"Hey, hey," I whispered, reaching out a hand to wipe away the tears.

New or not, I was going to keep her from crying and bring back that smile I had grown to love. I had never seen it before on her. Grinning teeth, carefree laugh, happy face. When she came back to normal, I hoped to find it again.

She lowered her hands and grasped my jacket sleeve instead, sniffling a little.

"It's okay, it's not your fault." She didn't look appeased by this but her cries calmed down to hiccups. Then I got it.

_Hinata likes to help people, right? Maybe that will make her feel better if she makes someone else feel better._ I grinned.

"Ne, Hinata-chan." She gazed at my shyly. "Can you do something for me?" This time her head shot up, eager to please. "My head itches from the sand, can you wipe it off?"

She wiped away the tears with the sleeve of her arm, dragging it across her cheek. "Yes!" I lowered my head and let her small hands wipe away all the sand.

"Awll better!"

"Yes it is! Thank you so much Hinata, that made me feel so much better!" I exclaimed and stood up with her, setting her on her feet. "Why don't you go play on the slides?" I pointed to the large play set and she took of running, calling at Akamaru who slept in the shade. Poor dog, she set her sights on him and with that boundless energy, who knew what she would do or what her young mind would come up with.

The boys looked at me in awe and clapped. The girls seemed a little jealous that they could not handle a child as well as me.

"How'd you do that Naruto!" Lee questioned me amazed. "That was very youthful of you!"

I grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of my head.

"When did you get good with kids Naruto?" Sakura questioned me. She worked with kids at the hospital sometimes and the usually really liked her, I say it's becasue of the pink hair.

"Uh, I don't know. I just didn't want her to cry anymore. I've seen a few dads calm their kids down before, and I did some guess work from that and how Iruka treats kids at the Academy... I just, wanted to calm her down is all."

Suddenly I felt very awkward. I just wanted to calm her down. The others didn't really know how to comment either. They knew I was an orphan, no one to get any real experience from. But they didn't want to say that I was amazing becasue it was mostly guess work.

I decided to add something else. "I just went off her personality, what would make her feel better if she thinks she might have done something wrong. What better than to help that person?"

Kiba chuckled, that was a trick that could probably be used on older Hinata to. Shino raised an eyebrow, coming to the same conclusion Kiba did. After that everyone took turns watching and playing with Hinata.

The little loved all the attention though, eagerly lapping it all up. She just never stopped going. Eventually even Lee, Kiba were wiped out too. Konohamaru didn't take up this much energy half the time, but Hinata just never seemed to stop! I ended up playing with her for the rest of the night, cursing my luck of increased stamina. Well, it wasn't so bad, but eventually she tired me out to. The fact that I had to hold back tired me out. Being so used to giving it my all, having to hold back on strength and speed was not something I did for hours on end. I laid on the ground with the others while Akamaru took another shot.

"Hiashi better thank us for this." Shikamaru mumbled, his hair decorated in flowers. He suffered less of an energy drain than the rest of us. Little girls seemed to like dress up, and as long as he could just sit there, he owuld have probably been fine with Hinata putting make up on him.

"Why?" I asked him.

"There's no possible way she'll wake up." He mumbled, staring at the blue sky.

"We need to take her home soon, so they can put her down for a nap." Sakura commented looking at the sun. "In fact, we've probably missed the nap time, no wonder she's so hyper."

"What do you mean?"

"Kids aren't like us, they can't stay up for hours on end just wasting all that energy. They need naps, it calms them down." Shino replied for her calmly.

"_I_ might need a nap after this." Ino sighed and plopped down next to Shikamaru for once not nagging him on being lazy.

"I-isn't Akamarwu p-pwetty?" A happy voice commented before us. We looked up from or lazy positions and instantly Kiba began to laugh.

Hinata had saddled the poor dog in a flower crown, necklace, "belt", a bracelet for each par and ear, as well as flower banners down his tail. Akamaru blew out of his nose with a thick huff as we laughed.

"Hinata," I called over to her and stood up. She held up her arms while I lifted her with a small grunt. She wasn't heavy, it just seemed like the right thing to do. "Ready to go home."

"No!" She pouted.

"Cranky. Told you, kids need naps. Hyperactivity isn't the only thing that can happen if they don't get one."

"Come on, I'm sure Hanabi, Neji and your dad miss you."

She crossed her arms. "No!"

"Uh..."

"What if we get you a present afterwards?"

This peaked her interest. "Cinnamown buns?" She asked eagerly.

I nodded my head. "Yup! I'll get you you're very own!" Cinnamon bun right, I never knew she liked that. She practictly drooled at the idea of one, kind of like me with ramen.

_Mmmm...ramen..._

"Then lets get you home youthful Hinata!" Lee cheered and she did to, pumping a fist in the air as I placed her on my shoulders.

Taking care of kids was fun, interesting at least. But I did hope we got older Hinata back again soon. One thing I learned, watching a kid was hard and they could disappear almost instantly. One of those times, whoever it was that wanted her, he would find that moment.

**#####**

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	8. Chapter 8

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**Ch.8

Family

*Neji*

Hinata sat there at the dinner table, arms crossed on the edge with her head resting on her forearms staring pointedly and suspiciously at her food. The hood to her cute bunny jacket had fallen down for now and was resting against her back. Occasionally she would squirm in her seat causing the bunny ears to twitch, but she never took her eyes off the plate before her.

"No." She said, picking up a fork to poke at the asparagus on the plate.

Hiashi was startled by her words. After all, Hinata never said no to him before. I had come to terms that this little Hinata was growing in a different direction already than our Hinata. The subtlest of changes in her life had made big changes to her.

"Hinata," Hiashi used his stern voice casting steel eyes on her, "you must eat or you will not grow up to be a strong ninja."

She shook her head stubbornly and leaned back into her chair, arms crossed and lips pouted out. "Naru-kun s-says I'm vw-vewy stwong!"

My uncle sighed and I saw the frustration appear on his face. Sometimes I felt sorry for him, for he had let his past troubles and recent troubles ruin the relationship with his eldest daughter. He pushed her hard, got on to her for every little detail, and in the end pushed her away and only made her weaker than he intended. When he realized that mistake, to Hiashi's credit, he did try to bond with her again. But she was weary and hurt and couldn't let down her guard around, only causing him more frustration and making the problem worse.

"Hinata." He began, his voice turning to the cold, judgmental voice that always seemed to lower my cousins standard of herself.

When I turned to look at how she reacted I could instantly see her stubborn eyes turn tearful , her high held confident shoulders slumped as she tried to hide into her self, twiddling with he thumbs. Just his tone of voice seemed to break her spirit. Then she started to sniffle, small tears falling down her cheeks.

"Hiashi-sama." I whispered to him, getting his attention on me.

Hanabi turned to Hinata and held her hand gently, pulling Hinata's chair closer to her to comfort her at he side. The small girl buried her head in Hanabi's side, squeezing her cloths tightly in little fists. Uncle looked over a little regretfully.

He sighed. "Hinata, I'm very sorry to have gotten angry at you." She peeked out from under Hanabi arm, rubbing the tears out of her eyes. "Sometimes I get angry, but I'm not mad at you."

"I'm n-n-not bad?" She questioned meekly.

"No, you are a good girl Hinata, and that's all I ever need you to be."

She cast a look at the asparagus with a wrinkled nose of distaste. "I down't h-have to be s-stwong?"

He shook his head. "All you have to do is try your hardest and I'll be happy."

She beamed wiping away the tears with the palms of her hand. All was forgiven and happy knowing that it wasn't her fault her dad was mad and that she wasn't in trouble. I wonder if that's all Hinata ever really wanted to know, to hear words like those from her dad. Always trying to grab his acknowledgement. I got to see as she sat up again, confident in herself once more.

"You still have to eat it. Or no desert."

The smile on her face fell and she stared wide-eyed at the plate. "I d-don'wanna! It smell y-yucky." Her eyes looked to me and Hanabi for help but we only followed her looks by eating the asparagus on our plates.

Hiashi smiled lightly, his mood improving with the actions that only a child can produce. "We'll make a deal Hinata, eat half of it, and you'll still get desert."

"Okay!" She pulled the plate closer to her and picked up a fork. "W-whats hawlf?"

Hanabi laughed a bit and grabbed the fork from her tinny hand, cutting the asparagus in half, pushing the half for her to eat closer to Hinata.

"Eat that part." She told her happily, handing the fork back. "And here's a trick, hold your nose and you can't taste it."

"Reawly!?" Quickly she stuffed a mouth full on her fork, and pinching her nose she stuck it in her mouth.

"Well?" I asked her amusedly, finishing off my dinner.

After she swallowed, she stuck out her tongue a bit. "I still twasted it."

"Hmm, guess it only works when I do it." Hanabi demonstrated for Hinata. "Didn't taste a thing!" She declared with a laugh after a few bites.

"Aww!" Hinata instantly tried to produce the same effect, finishing off the half of her plate. With the last bite she laughed happily and clapped her hands for herself. "Did it!"

I stood and took our plates while Hiashi went and prepared some bowls of strawberry ice-cream. Placing the plates in the sink I headed back to the dinning room.

"Since you did such a good job Hinata, here's some ice-cream." He handed her a small purple bowl, Hanabi a blue one, I got the green and his was an old wooden one.

"Twank you!"

"After this you take a shower and go to bed."

"Awww."

I smiled happily, feeling my lips curl up almost foreignly. There had never been such a moment where I had seen Hinata sit at the table and talk on about her day, un-worried about her fathers view of her. Or Hanabi laughing and smiling like the kid she was and should have been allowed to be. Hiashi was the most surprising, a small smile tugged on his lips as he gazed lovingly at his two daughters finally able to have this chance as sisters, something the tension between everyone had never really allowed for. I also felt as if I was part of a family again.

After dinner was over everyone laid down to sleep. Hinata was put into her own bed, although we left our doors open incase she woke up or crawled into one of our beds again. I was sleeping peacfully, dreaming about TenTen and training out in a wide open field, far from civilization when something woke me up.

A small thump caused me to sit up in bed, reaching a hand down for my hidden kunai knife under the pillow. "Byakugan." I whispered quietly.

The worldrushed to me in a black and white view as I looked for moving chakra signatures. Outside, heading towards the back door was Hinata! She had tripped over her feet and was pulling herself up again, heading towards the door. For a second I just watched her as she lazily, sluggishly moved her feet and reached out for the door knob.

"Damn it!" I jumped out of bed and rushed into the hallway, bupping into a frantic Hanabi along the way. She had her byuakugan activated while she steadied herself on the wall and helped pull me up.

"Neji, I heard a noise and check-"

"I know, Hinata."

"You two, why are you up?" Hiashi strolled up to us wearing a white robe and a tired face.

"Hinata!" We said in unison, rushing down the hallway and to the open back door, Hiashi following closely behind.

The backyard was a prized work of art by our gardeners, wide and vast the flowers glimmered brightly in the sunlight or in the moon beams. In the middle was a koi pond, surrounded by white lily's that glowed with firefly's making their homes there. It looked like it could have been from a dream, and Hinata just stood there on a little red bridge that overlayed the pond, a dreamy glazed look on her face. Her new pajamas dirty with the soil she must have fallen in covering up the teddy bear on her night-shirt and fuzzy pj bottoms.

She was humming to herself, a little lullaby. "Yow awe my sunshine, my only sunshine..." She sang softly, happily as she started to walk across the bridge again, heading to the dark area of the wall that kept us safe from the woods.

"Hinata!" we raced to her, faster than her little feet could go and Hiashi grabbed her into his arms lifting her off the ground.

She let out a shrill moaned and tried to crawl out of his arms, squirming and reaching out to he wall as if someone were there to grab her away.

"Hinata!" We called to her.

"Dad, he chakra is all funny." Hanabi said worriedly, watching Hinata try to get out of her fathers grip. He tightened his hold.

"Byakugan!" We activated out byuakugans again, taking a look at Hinata's body. The chakra in her body wasn't flowing right, the chakra flow had been disturbed and was spinning through her in erratic patters. Genjutsu. Hanabi had never seen anyone under the effects of genjutsu before.

"Mommy!" Hinata screamed, kicking at Hiashi.

"Ow." He muttered softly, trying to get her under control as her bare feet kicked his chest. "Neji, will you?" He questioned, holding Hinata under her shoulder while she flailed about.

"Mommy! Mommy!" She called out loudly.

"Yes sir." I focused chakra to my right hand and placed in on her forehead, watching as my added chakra disrupted her own a dissipated the genjutsu. She stopped fighting and slumped in Hiashi's big hands while he held her close to his chest moving a hand soothingly through her hair.

Hinata's eyes fluttered open and she wrapped her arms around her father, nuzzling into him. "D-daddy? W-were mommy go?" She then fell right back to sleep in his arms.

"Dad." Hanabi questioned him, slightly frightened. He sighed and placed a hand on her head comfortingly.

"We can ask her in the morning." A few gurads ran up having heard Hinata's frantic screaming. "Will you men keep watch over in the sector tonight? I'm sure that whoever caused this is long gone."

"Yes sir!"

"Let's sleep for now, Neji, Hanabi, come on inside."

Once we got back inside the hallway and were heading off to our rooms, Hanabi shyly grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Um, uh, m-may I-" She began awkwardly, shuffling from foot to foot.

Hiashi and me shared a small smirk. "Yes Hanabi, you may stay with me tonight." Carrying Hinata in his arms, he led Hanabi into his room. "Good night Neji."

"Night nii-san." Hanabi yawned.

"Night." I whispered quietly into the night. Thankfull that we had gotten to Hinata in time before anything bad could happen. I was restless and wanted to find out who was trying to hurt her, but Hiashi was right, the culprit was by now long gone and hiding.

_"Whoever it better pray I don't get my hands on them."_

**#####**

**Happy chapter? XD I loved writting this one!  
**

**The not eating the food is inspired by my three year old nephew! (as well as the deal, for a little boy, he knows how to compromise if he's in a good mood) say thanks to Ryan :) I love him so muchXD lol. when he's not a pain of course, but eh, what can you do? lol. ^.^  
**

**Thanks for reading  
**

**Please Review:)  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm very glad y'all like it!  
**

**Sadly, this is the last update for I must move on to the next fic.  
**

**Remember, I only update 2-3 chapters at a time per fic. But I'll try to hurry back :)  
**

**Please read and review XD I love hearing what y'all gotta say XD  
**

**Does something seem off about the POV order? Maybe I'm just going insane...  
**

**DO NOT OWN NARUTO  
**

**####  
**Ch. 9

Sleeping Forever

*Kiba*

I was woken up at around eight this morning by Shizune knocking on my door. Apparently something had happened last night and everyone being called to Tsunade's office. That moved my butt quick as I rushed to put on my cloths tripping over stray scrolls and clothes. Shizune was gone by the time I had said bye to my mom and reached the front door.

Once I was in Tsunade's cleans office I was simple told to take a seat and wait. Hinata didn't seem worried at all. She never really did. When she saw me run in she ran up with her arms open.

"Kiba-nii-san!" She yelled out to me. Laughingly I picked her up.

"What about Akamaru?"

Today she was wearing a different jacket, the girls had all gotten her a few different types of jackets to keep her from sticking to one in hopes it would change her perception on style. This jacket was a light purple color and instead of a bunny it was a cat. The ears peaked on her hoodie pulled over her head with a long cat tail hanging at the end of the jacket.

_Where in the world did they keep finding these jackets?_

"No! I didn't f-fowget!" I held her by her waist and tipped her towards Akamaru while he leaped a little on his legs to lick her face.

"Hey Hinata," I moved her around while she squealed out happily. "Did you know dogs eat cats."

It took a while for this news to settle in her mind and then her eyes went wide. "I'm n-no food!"

"Akamaru thinks you taste delicious!" I rushed her over him while he licked at her. His tongue earning giggles and squeals.

"Tsunade-sama! What has happened?" Kurenai came running in, her long hair flying behind her and red eyes wide. I forgot, she was on a mission while we were on ours, she should have arrived home yesterday.

"Kurenai, it's fine, she's safe." Our Hokage assured her. While the door was open I caught the smell of Shino, Team Kakashi, Team Asuma and Team Gai with each sensei represented.

"Then.."

"Hey Kurenai-sensei." I called her over and went to a chair on the wall, sitting down by Neji, Hiashi and Hanabi. I placed Hinata on the floor and she tackled Akamaru.

"I'm no f-food!" She giggled, rubbing his belly.

Kurenai landed her eyes on the little girl. "Kiba is that-"

"Yes Kurenai, that would happen to be my daughter." Hiashi interrupted her.

My teachers mouth fell open and her wine eyes landed on me. I shrugged helplessly. "We don't know what happened."

"Granny Tsunade, why did ya wake me up so early!" Naruto barged in the door, everyone else spilling in behind him, his arms raised in an exaggerated yawn.

Hinata gasped happily and turned from Akamaru running full speed to Naruto. Sometimes her attitude towards him threw me off, but it was better then her fainting. She jumped up and her caught her, swinging her around a little before letting her rest n his side.

"N-Naru-kun!" She giggled. "G-guess what I s-s-seen!"

"Hm?" He grinned at her and her face lit up in that wide grin that we had all only recently seen.

"I saw m-mommy!"

Naruto's mouth fell open and I could feel mine drop. Tsunade sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"That's what we are here to talk about. Naruto, mind taking the middle seat with Hinata?"

He was strangely silent as he sat down before her desk and we all grabbed a chair and surrounded them in a circle. After a few morning greeting Tsuande waited for everyone to calm down a bit before speaking again.

"For those of you who don't know." She pointed a lazy finger at Hinata who scooted a bit into Naruto's chest, blushing red now that the attention was on her. "That there is Hinata."

The teachers started to whisper to each other, surprised by this ordeal.

Kurenai spoke first. "But how?"

"That the problem, Kiba and Shino told me she was like this in the morning after their mission. And Hinata by all accounts is a three-year old. She doesn't know either."

"Is it an enemy?" Kakashi questioned, putting his orange book away in his kunai pouch.

"Most likely. Hiashi, tell us what happened last night."

"Neji and Hanabi awoke to some noise and thinking it was an intruder headed out. I was working a little late on some document when I ran into them in the hall."

"Was it an intruder?" Ino questioned, interrupting his story. Sakura elbowed her in the side. "Ow!"

"No," He answered, "it was in fact Hinata."

Hinata was sitting on her knees playing with Naruto's hair blissfully unaware of the situation. But when she heard her name she stopped stiff and stared at her dad wide-eyed before shyly hiding her head in Naruto's chest.

"We found her moving under genjutsu."

"Who would do that!" Me and Naruto burst out at almost the same time. Shino placed a hand on my arm to silence me and Tsunade held up a hand, sitting straighter in her chair.

"She fell asleep again once it was released and we figured we would question her here, now. As well as calling on her group of friend for help." He added in with a strained sort of smile. Tsunade gave him a nod of her head.

"Do you all wish to know as well?" We gave out a chorus of "yes's".

"Hinata?" She asked the girl nicely.

Said girl peeked out from Naruto's chest and turned around a so that she was facing Tsuande, placing his hands in her lap she played with his fingers. I marveled at how tiny they seemed.

"Yes Granny?" She said with a cheeky grin. Naruto let out a coughing laugh.

Tsuande glared at him. "You'll get yours latter Naruto."

"Dang it."

With a sigh Tsuande continued. "Can you tell us what you saw last night Hinata?"

She gave her this funny look that said 'isn't-it-obvious'? "Mommy!" She smiled.

"What, what was your mother doing?"

"Umm." Hinata had to think it over, than she looked at Naruto's hands and continued to play with them. "S-she was s-singing." She didn't really look like she wanted to continue.

"Hinata, you can tell us." Naruto assured her. She shook her head.

"Remember the cinnamon bun deal?" She nodded. "We'll get you two."

Hiashi sighed but didn't comment on Naruto promising his kids sweets. For a second the idea seemed to draw Hinata's attention before she thought it over and violently shook her head back and forth.

"Hinata, no one will be mad at what you tell us, but you really scared your daddy last night and he wants to know." Naruto settled with, drawing on her need to make others happy. A dirty trick, but a useful one.

She looked down at his hands, moving his pointer finger back and forth then looked at Naruto carefully studding his actions. "Not in twouble?"

He smiled happily. "I promise you're not!"

"M-mommy sang." She began, thinking over her night. "Th-then she towld me to g-go with h-her."

"Where were you going?" Hiashi asked her quietly.

Her brows knit in confusion. "Don't k-know. But she was l-l-leaving," her stuttering increased as a small hint of fear and tears leaked into her eyes. "I d-d-d-didn't w-want her to w-w-weave a-again!" She cried.

This time Hiashi stood up and held out his arms to Naruto who was awkwardly rocking Hinata back and forth. Naruto handed her over and he held her protectively. "It's okay Hinata."

"W-whe-eres m-mommy!" She wailed into his chest heartbroken that her mother had seemingly left her.

"Sshhh," he cooed, running a hand on her back. "Your mother got sick Hinata, she didn't want to leave you or Hanabi, or anyone at home."

"B-bad p-people take h-her?" She relaxed into her fathers embrace and I felt extremely sad for my tiny teammate. But I could not find the voice to speak any more than Naruto or Lee could.

"No, she just..." he tried to think of ways to explain death to a three-year old. "She just fell asleep."

"S-she's s-sweep?"

"Forever." He said painfully, face drawn back in a painful expression at the memories and having to re-tell his daughter that her mom was gone forever.

Hinata had gone quiet after that, taking in the news softly. "Tsunade-sama, she really does not know who cast the genjutsu. May we be excused to take her home."

"By all means." Tsunade exclaimed sadly, a tearful expression on her face.

"Thank you." He bowed deeply and walked away with both daughters following.

"B-bai!" Hinata called out suddenly from the doorway, using that funny open-closed palm way of little kids, a small strained smile on her face. I sighed inwardly, Hinata was always sweet Hinata.

"We'll come pick you up later for cinnamon buns!" I assured her with a grin, her face brightened a little and she buried her head in the crook of her father's neck. After that they were gone out the door and back home.

"Why did you stay Neji?" TenTen questioned her teammate.

"I think Tsunade-sama has something she wishes to tell us."

"Granny Tsuande?" Naruto questioned her. Tsuande seemed out of energy to reprimand him.

She sighed. "I want at least two of you with her in the hours of the day, Hiashi has requested it. Not only will it keep her calm, but we can assure more coverage in case something goes wrong."

"Covered." Sakura declared. "Naruto and Kiba are apparently taking her out already for sweets today."

"You're not going?" Naruto asked a little crestfallen.

"Hospital work."

"Shikamaru, think you can set a likely course the enemy is bout to take?"

"Troublesome...but yes." He leaned back lazily.

Kurenai sighed heavily. "Is this all we can do for now?"

"With the information we know, yes. But Kurenai, will you be willing to stay with the Hyuga's for a while? Your use of genjutsu might come in handy to spot the user or when it's placed on anyone."

"Yes!"

"That is all for now, you can go about your day."

We stood up and left to our different places, thinking over the events of the last few days. Just for a pair of eyes on a little girls body, someone was going through all this trouble. Akamaru whined at me, feeling my strong emotions to protect one of our own, our friend, out pact, a sister.

_"I can't wait to kick their ass."_

**####**

**Okay, don't laugh but I'm totally freaking out about the a** word in the end. I just don't say it much at all and I don't write it down either X.X I know, I know, I'm a big baby, but it's just so awkward for me! lol  
**

**other news, this is my last update for a while.  
**

**2-3 chapters for fic, and this is the third, time to move one.  
**

**I'll try to be back as soon as I can!  
**

**In the mean time...  
**

**Please review :)  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**I want to begin with saying how sorry I am about keeping you all waiting. If you read my Sailor Moon fic, you've already heard this speech, but if you haven't, then I'll apologize again anyways.**

**Sorry I got in a rut and lost my spark, but thanks to loyal fans, I am writing again and finding that I really did enjoy writing as much as I remembered! :) **

**I've got a one-shot up of Sailor Moon, As You Are, that I wrote for a contests and to get me back into the grove, because when I tried to come back and write again I found myself out of practice and it was horrible, and looking at my stories I can only hope my writing gets better and better! **

**I'm very sorry about keeping all of you waiting! **

**I will be trying to write again, please be patient for a while longer while I get into the grove of it.**

**Please read and review**

**Do NOT own Naruto**

**XXXXX**

Ch. 10

Cinnamon buns

*Naruto*

I met up with Kiba latter at a small cake shop to get Hinata her promised cinnamon buns before heading to the Hyuga complex. Kiba stared at some sweet's longingly, but I wasn't really interested in the cakes and candies, I was more worried at the moment that if I bought Hinata two large cinnamon buns her dad would kill me but if I bought two little ones Hinata would be upset and cry. I had found that I really hated to see the small girl cry and would do anything to make her laugh. It was a good thing she seemed to really like me, so it was easy to cheer her up.

"Kiba!" I glared at him. "Why don't you help me out here, huh?!"

He placed a small velvet cupcake back on the shelf with delicate claws, leaving little dents in the plastic wrap. "What!" He growled. Akamaru whined from his side, sniffing at the sweets he wasn't allowed to have.

"What should I get here? If I die so do you!"

"We're not gonna die idiot." He gave an exasperated sigh.

"Fine." I grumbled and called attention to the cashier with a wave of my hand. "I'd like those two."

The storeowner was old and chubby, with a blush on his tanned wrinkled cheeks. Just the person you'd imagine to run a candy shop, however his eyes were cold when he looked at me, brown eyes in a muddy glare. I knew that look, and I found my head naturally lowered by habit to avoid the icy look.

"Yeah, uh…" I rubbed the back of my neck. "I'll take those two cinnamon buns, the big ones."

"Pft." He scoffed and grabbed the buns before shoving them in the bag, no doubt squashing them. Poor Hinata, because of me she was going to get squashed cinnamon buns. I clenched my fist, wanting to punch the man, wanting to knock him through the wall like Sakura did to me all the time. While I received fewer hostilities now that I was older, there were just some people who never change and probably never would.

"Hey man! Why'd you squash those?! Those are for a friend!" Kiba growled, stepping next to Naruto, slamming a hand down on the display case leaving shallow scratches.

"Wha…" The man jumped back in wide-eyed shock.

"Yeah, ya heard me. We're not paying for that, it's stupid. How am I supposed to explain to some kid that because the store owner is a jack that her promised treat it ruined!"

I watched, for once quiet, feeling almost shy in the eyes of the cold gaze of the storeowner and the sudden defense of a friend. Something he was new to experiencing.

"You should pick better company, ninja-san." He grumbled, and handed over the bag, shoving it into Kiba's chest causing Akamaru to growl at the hostility.

"Don't treat my friend like that!" I yelled this time, angry that someone would treat his friends wrong. This time my fist slammed into the display case and it shattered, the glass twinkling down on the donuts and sweets.

"Come on man, lets just go." Kiba growled lowly, dragging me out by my sleeve shirt. "I don't wanna be here when this man goes tattling to Tsunade and get into a whole argument and.. .gah! It's stupid!" He pushed open the door and rushed us into the crowded streets.

He growled low and angrily, causing people to part before us and I couldn't help but laugh. "What are you laughin' bout hu! Idiot! Why did you let him treat you like that?"

But I couldn't stop laughing, the tension in my gut was released and I had to hold my sides to keep myself from coming unraveled. "It's … ha… j-just…" I laughed harder at Kiba's angry bewildered face.

_It's a nice change._

With a snort, Kiba dropped my arm. "Fine, you get to deal with Hinata."

My laughing stopped and I eyed the bag in his curled hands. "Come on mutt, don't do that to me!"

"Did you just call me a mutt!"

"Yeah! Idiot mutt! Leaving a comrade to die!" I argued back, good-naturedly.

That's how me and Kiba spent our time walking to the Hyuga estate, arguing and punching each other. Akamaru jumped around us before bounding ahead the closer we got to Hinata's house. Suddenly reminded of a dire situation, we sobered a little, punches became slack and jokes quiet. It was a bit of a shock, because between Kiba and me we made the stupidest pair of our genin year, and the loudest too, that hadn't changed. But Hinata was a dear friend, and she was in trouble and we didn't know how to help or who to punch.

"I hate this man, I wish I could ask Hinata what she thinks about it, ya know? She and Shino are smart, I let them do all the talking, but she'll explain whatever I don't get." He smiled and scratched the downturned triangle on his face.

I pondered a minuet. "Well, why not ask her? If older Hinata is smart, younger Hinata must be smart to."

"What, in toddler world? She's three man!" He bit out.

"So! It seemed like a good idea to me!" I shouted back.

Before any more arguments could be reassumed, a small girly squeal drew our attention. Hinata, in her silly kitten jacket was riding on Akamaru, holding his white fur in balled little fists. Behind her was Neji, walking at an even pace with a watchful eye on his cousin.

"K-Kiba-nii! Naru-kun!" She giggled, face alight and all worry from earlier this morning had faded, and I was delighted to see her happy smile and flushed cheeks.

Then she let go of Akamaru.

"Wait, don't! Hinata-sama!" Neji panicked and rushed forward and she toppled.

However, to our surprise, she gained her balance by placing her hands on Akamaru's back, bringing her legs up into a crouch position on his side, feet pushing her body up. The dog tried to slow down, but his speedy feet only caused him to pitch forward, and Hinata who had managed a half crouch was thrown forward.

"Naru-kun!" She cried, all confidence in her previous ninja flexibility gone and replaced with fear.

"Ah!" I held out my arms and she fell neatly into them, I barely had to take a step back.

Her tiny arms quickly wrapped around my neck, and she buried her head in my shoulder. "Ya okay Hinata?" Kiba asked, helping Akamaru up while Neji jumped passed them, touching Hinata from head to toe like a mother hen checking her over for any injuries. Her body only trembled.

"Hinata-sama.." Neji sighed in relief, standing back.

"Hey, don't cry…" I muttered.

She leaned back and instead of crying as I thought she was, she was laughing! A gigantic smile spit her face and loud peals of laughter burst from her tiny body. Her eyes were scrunched closed in delight before she opened those pearl eyes to gaze at me.

"A-again! 'Gain!" She nudged me with her head on my chest, the laughs turned into giggles.

"See, she loved it Neji! Don't be such a stick, it's good for kids and all to fall. That's how we Inuzuka's play all the time." He barked out a laugh with a wide grin, but it fell quickly when Neji sent him an icy glare. Then it was my turn to laugh as I placed Hinata on her feet.

"That is not for you to decide." He grumbled out.

"I'm the babysitter."

"I'm her cousin."

"Well, you're a boring jerk! That's what you are!"

"I do not want Hinata to get sick!"

I turned to Akamaru, who lowered himself down and allowed Hinata to gingerly climb back on. "Uh, let's just go. I got you a snack Hinata." Completely ignoring the two fitting over babysitting styles, we walked off ahead.

"Naruto! Get back here!" They yelled in unison.

I ignored them expertly, and rather cheekily, I waved them forward while handing Hinata the bag with the squashed buns. She held it like a treasure to her chest, one hand holding Akamaru's fur and the other the bag.

"C-cinnam-mon buns?"

"Yup! As promised, and I don't go back on my word." I rubbed the back of my neck guiltily. "Sorry that they're squashed." I looked away, not wanting to see the disappointment.

For a second, all was quiet except for the two fuming boys behind us. "Naru-kun!" Hinata laughed. "T-thank you!"

"Hinata-sama! Wait until we get home to eat that, so that we can wash your hands!" Neji scolded lightly.

A rather unexpected sight greeted me when I turned around. Hinata was devouring the first cinnamon bun like I devoured ramen. She was stubbing it into her mouth, trying to take as big of a bite as she could causing her cheeks to puff out like a chipmunks. She giggled in response to Neji and his scolding, sending little crumbs everywhere but her eyes were only on me, and she held in her left hand the other bun, pushing it to me.

"I think she's seen you eat!" Kiba joked, punching my shoulder, causing me to stumble.

I laughed suddenly, I couldn't wait for older Hinata to come back so I could tell her about this. Again and again and again. I reached for the bun.

"You sure?" She nodded, finishing the bite in her mouth before trying to take another big bite out of the rather smashed bun.

"Let's race!" I took a small bite out of mine.

"I want one to!" Kiba whined. "Hinata, don't you love Kiba-nii!"

"N-N-Narrumaw." She mumbled through a full mouth.

"Mawh!" I laughed around my own.

"Kiba, Naruto, please do not encourage this behavior!"

Today was going to be a good day.

**XXXX**

**Rather simple chapter. I really had to work hard to find some inspiration for this and it didn't really hit me until halfway through and few day's later. ^.^" sorry.**

**It really seems that all my drive is to my newer stories. They feel better written to me. But I do still love this one XD **

**So I won't give up on it! But I also don't want my writing style to change in the middle of it and confuse y'all. So if it does and you don't like it, I'm sorry. But I want to make this a better story for you all to enjoy! **

**So… I'll give it a bit, build up some ideas and write out with no restraints, which I feel like I was doing a lot with this that I didn't do on my newer chapters previously or my practice stories before I decided to pick up my stories again.**

**I'm also not sure if the production of these will speed up of get slower again depending on how depressed I've been feeling lately, but since it's rather therapeutic, hopefully it'll speed up :)**

**Thank you for reading.**

**Please review :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello! I received such good reviews! I'm glad y'all liked it so much :)**

**So I decided to work on another chapter immediately. **

**Please read and review :)**

**Do NOT own Naruto**

**XXXX**

Ch. 11

Will You Play Mommy?

*Kurenai*

"Kurenai." Hiashi startled me from the depths of my mind as I watched a little Hinata play with Natruto, Kiba, and Akamaru in the wide Hyuga grounds. Neji stood off to the side and Hanabi at his side looked conflicted to join.

"Oh," I smiled embarrassedly, feeling my cheeks heat up at being caught off guard. "Yes, Hiashi-sama?"

I wasn't exactly comfortable around him, I had after all seen Hinata cry to often from the pain he caused. He had been cruel to his eldest. However, the man before me seemed almost a total opposite, while still calm and poised, his eyes gazed with fondness at the shrunken Hinata. Remorseful and determined to right the wrong done.

He smiled, ever so slightly, knowingly. "Would you please put Hinata to bed?"

Slightly surprised, I nodded my head slowly. "Yes." I gaped stupidly. With a small chuckle, Hiashi walked back into the complex.

Was I that readable when it came to the case of Hinata? With a sigh, I realized I was. Despite not wanting to play favorites among my students, and I really did love them all, Hinata did hold a special place in my heart. The thought of her being hurt was too much to handle, I wanted to watch her grow, and I wanted to help her find her lost strength. Watching the young happy and vibrant girl outside, I knew I was right to think so. When had she lost that glow, and that subtle confidence?

Getting up from the porch, I called out and put an end to their energetic play. "Hinata, it's time for bed."

It wasn't surprising when all three groaned in complaint. "But, Kurenai!" Naruto begged, "Come on, she's just a blast! We were about to play hide-and-seek."

"Idiot, it was tag! She has an all seeing eye, really…" Kiba barked a laugh, ruffling the young Hyuga's head. "You're setting us up to lose!"

"Uh… I w-won't u-use my eye." Hinata whispered with a blush, holding the ball that they had been playing with earlier to her chest. "'m n-not g-good with i-it." She muttered.

"I'm sure you're great Hinata!" Naruto laughed. Her head instantly perked up from it's bowed position. "You're just tiny now is all, I wasn't as awesome as I am now when I was small." He gave her a wide smile, which she instantly copied, a much bigger smile than I had ever seen on her face.

"You were just an idiot. At least she's smart." Kiba laughed.

"What! You were an idiot!"

"Nu-uh! Liar!"

"Liar!"

With a sigh, I walked out and bent beside Hinata who watched the as Naruto tackled Kiba to the ground, and the two teens began punching and kicking at each other unskillfully. "Come on Hinata, why don't we set you some bath water and then go to bed."

Her eyes shifted to me shyly but she nudged the ground with her foot in a stubborn manner. "B-but wa-anna pway." She said silently.

Patting her shoulder, I tried not to laugh. "You can when you're nap is over, Naruto and Kiba will still be here."

"P-pwromise." She whispered desperately, eyes finally catching mine as they filled with tears.

"Yes." I said gently.

This Hinata was full of surprises it seemed, she had a small budding confidence, only fueled by Naruto's presence, and while shy it seemed that she wasn't really afraid to let her thoughts or feelings be know either. It was rather refreshing to know that Hinata's personality, while easy and light had once had the potential for a strong and kind girl. Although, sadly it had been crushed before its time. I only hoped we could re-awaken that confidence and strength when she returned to normal.

"Come on." I grabbed her hand tiny hand in my own and waved bye to the two wrestling ninja's whose fight quickly escalated into a miniature battle with Neji joining in in the hopes of stopping it. Hanabi sighed and walked inside, bored with the boys.

"Kur-chan?"

"Hmm?"

We had made it to the bathroom, and inside a pair of sky blue pajamas had been folded in a cubby, as well as a soft plush towel. I started the bathwater holding my hand under the fountain until I felt it warm up to an agreeable temperature before bending around to help Hinata get undressed.

She placed her hands on my shoulders to help balance herself as I undressed her. "C-can we, um…" He face turned red while I placed her dirty clothes in the clothes hamper and undressed myself, wrapping a towel around my chest so that I could sit with her.

"Can we what?" I asked playfully, encouraging her to drag out the answer.

"C-c-c-…" Her stutter increased with her embarrassment.

I laughed lightly and turned off the faucet, making sure the water was hot enough so that after I washed her hair and body she could relax and play in the bubbles for a while. I sat her down on a little stool and grabbed the showerhead.

"C-can we pway h-house! Uh… with m-my d-ducks?" She finally sputtered out, keeping her eyes tightly closed as I ran the water through her hair.

Gently I ran my fingers through her hair, running shampoo through her short hair. "Of course we can."

She sat up straighter before me and kicked her feet up and down happily. "R-reawy! Yay!" She cheered lightly.

"Close your eyes."

Her eyes shut tight and she clamped her lips in a tight line as I washed the shampoo out of her hair. Next, I started rubbing in the conditioner, and deciding to keep her amused I asked about the game we would play, very interested in how a young Hinata thought. "Well, what will we be doing?"

Keeping her eyes closed as I washed out the conditioner she thought hard about it. "Umm…"

"You can open your eyes now, will you stand for me?" She stood up slowly, careful not to fall and turned to face me as I readied the luffa.

"Y-you can be m-momma d-duck and I'll b-be b-baby d-ducky." She smiled sweetly at me as I scrubbed her body. "A-and w-we'll live in a b-big b-big h-howse!" She spread her arms out wide and I took the opportunity to wash them making her giggle before I started to wash off the suds.

"And?"

"A-and, a b-bad p-pewson p-picks on u-us. B-but…" She pondered her idea. "N-Naru-duck saves u-us!" She beamed.

"And we live happily ever after?" I chuckled. _Naru-duck…oh, he'll love it._

"Y-yes." She grinned. I led her back to the tub and helped her in where she relaxed with a happy sigh before, as if bent on a mission; she focused on two little pink purple rubber ducks resting on the side of the tub.

She grabbed them both with small hands and looked over the side pointing out a blue duck to me that had fallen from its perch. I placed it in the tub with a smile.

"O-okay, m-momma d-duck." She handed me the big pink while I sat on a little stool outside of the tub. "B-bay duck, and N-Naru-duck." She beamed, placing the blue on to float aimlessly on the water.

We played after that, a willful game dictated by Hinata's change in mind or story, until the water became cold and I got her out of the tub, dried her off and placed her in her pajamas. But the closer we got to her room, the more clingy she seemed to get.

"Is something wrong Hinata?" I questioned quietly as I tucked her into bed. Her room had a few small toys about, something the girls must have bought on the shopping spree I heard about, but for the most part I could still find traces of older Hinata, clothes and a tidy shelf of books, a work desk and a purple rug, and a picture on the night stand of her and her team. This Hinata seemed so small in this room, more like a quest or a forgotten memory.

"Umm.. w-wil…" She trailed off, turning her eyes to gaze at the wall while I closed the sheer purple curtains to dim the light in the room. Hinata pulled the soft purple covers up close to her chin as I walked back to her bed.

"W-will K-Kur-chan s-sleep w-w-with me?" She whispered.

For a minuet I was stunned, before I smiled slightly and decided that it wouldn't do her any harm, and I would be living here temporarily to. "Yeah, sure I will."

She smiled shyly and scooted over, making room for me on her big bed while I scooted in under the covers. "Sleep well, Hinata." I whispered as I wrapped her in my arms.

"Th-hank y-you…" She yawned, snuggling into me. "F-for p-pwaying houwse…m-mommy." She mumbled the last word, so I wasn't sure I had heard her right at first and I was stupefied into a brief silence.

"Hinata…" I leaned back and looked at her, her face calm and peaceful in sleep, a small smile curling at her lips. I lay back down as she moved in closer for warmth and I aloud my arms to wrap around her as I stared blankly at the ceiling wondering if I should feel elated, or worried.

_What did you call me?_

**XXXX**

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**Those waiting for my other stories, please be brave a while longer, I'm sorry to hold y'all off. Those waiting for Akatsuki Hime especially! I have many loyal fans to the story, and I plan to make it better for y'all, but that means y'all will have to wait longer, because I'm going to update it all at once just so y'all won't be left hanging for long and will have a lot to read by, hopefully, I start getting my stories down again.**

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	12. Chapter 12

**I'm sorry it has taken so long! I got caught up in midterms and projects for school and my department and man, the semester flew!**

**Did I ever tell y'all? I made it to college! Freshman XD **

**But, sorry, it's taken a while. **

**Thanks for being patient.**

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**Also sorry to end this on a boring chapter. It's a filler chapter, nothing by a little daily life insertion and slight character development.**

**Do NOT own Naruto**

**XXXXX**

Ch. 12

What I Want To Be

*Hinata*

"Hinata!" I turned around when Kur-mama called out to me, walking through the big Hyuga gates, a pleased smile on her face and small plastic bag with food for dinner because she was cooking tonight and Neji had forgotten some of the things she needed.

Dropping the small book that Sakura had bought me onto the ground, I climbed up and rushed off to greet her. The pink haired girl let out a little startled gasp, but I was too focused on my new mom to help Sakura out. It was boring anyway, a lot of squiggles that I couldn't really recognize, except for a few.

"Kur-mama!" I giggled out, opening my arms and jumping up when I got within catching distance. She swooped me up into her arms and held me close to her warm body as I hugged her.

Daddy had made a funny face when I started calling her Kur-mama not to long after she first stayed the night. The title had just slipped out one day in my excitement and I cried because I thought he was mad when he gave me that stupefied face. After all, what about mommy? _Mommy… _I loved mommy, and I missed her so much! But, calling Kurenai mama, it made me feel safe again and it felt so right, and for some reason, I haven't really felt safe unless she or Naruto were around.

"Oh Hinata, you're covered in dirt, were you playing in the gardens?" She smiled bemusedly, wiping my cheek with her thumb.

A sweet laugh followed that statement. "No, she was helping me check out the herbs in the gardens and got a little dirty." I turned to see Sakura walked up behind us, books in hand, one big and green filled with pictures and squiggles about plants, and the other small and pink about a princess in a tower, and still a third blue one dotted lines of letters.

"Seems she still has a healer's hand." She mumbled with a small smile.

Kure-mama's hand ran through my hair as I leaned my head against her chest, listening to the thump, thump noise that her heart made. "Yeah, I imagined she never actually changed much from when she was small. Until now, it seems like she's becoming quite bold."

"That's not such a bad change." Sakura nodded her head to Kure-mama, whose face I couldn't see in my position, but whose voice had been filled with a bittersweet joy.

"No, it's not. She seems so much happier."

I pouted, for I didn't like when they talked about this 'she'. Everyone did, and I couldn't understand why or who. It sounded like me, because they all gave me this funny look, as if they were seeing something different, then it would fade, and they would smile again.

"K-Kure-mama…" I interrupted quietly, not really wanting to be rude, but still wanting some attention on me. "I m-made onigwi! A-are you h-huwngry?"

Leaning back slightly in her arms, I gazed at her red eyes, just happy to be hugged. I loved hugs so much; I couldn't get enough of them and now they were offered a lot more freely then I remembered.

Kure-mama laughed and I was jostled a little as she walked forward and into the large house, Sakura behind her. "Yes Hinata, I'd love a snack. You didn't spoil you're dinner now did you?"

"Nope!" I beamed. I had been waiting for her to come, or Naruto to drop by as he often did even when it wasn't 'his day', because everyone had a day to play with me, just me. However, it was already past lunchtime and he still hadn't come.

Her hair bounced with a happy nod while she moved open the shoji door with her foot before turning her head to talk to Sakura, allowing me to lean back against her with a calm breath. "So, where's Ino? Fight?" She asked knowingly.

"Ha, um, yeah. We got into a little spat…"

That was a lie, it was rather big, they both punched each other as hard as Naru-kun and Kiba-nii often did, although, Naru-lun said Sakura could punch down the Hokage mountain, so maybe it wasn't a lie.

"She's inside sleeping off the headache." Sakura admitted and I looked over Kure-mama's shoulder as the pinkette shrugged guiltily.

My Kure-mama sighed and turned into the kitchen. "Can't say I didn't expect it."

"T-they scream r-reawlly loud." I whispered into her ear. "M-maybe they s-scared Naru-kun aw-way."

"I'm sure he'll pop by Hinata, if not, we'll go out and find him. Okay?" She mumbled, seeing right through me.

"Y-yeah!" I cheered as she placed me down on a high stool beside the counter and I watched her get the supplies out to cook.

"I have a shift at the hospital tonight," Sakura came into the kitchen; packing away her own book into a small green backpack, "do you mind if I go ahead and leave?"

"Nah," Kurenai smiled kindly, "go ahead. I can handle it for the rest of the day, it's not too hard."

She grinned. "Thanks!"

I eyed my plate of sloppy onigri. "D-does Sakuwa w-want one?"

She hefted the large bag on her back. "Yeah honey, I'll go ahead and take two to go." She grabbed one from the top, testing it in the palm of her hand to be sure it wouldn't fall apart like my first few attempts, and then grabbed another.

"You're to nice Hinata! Thank you!" She rubbed my hair. "Sorry again Kurenai, but I promised to help one of the newer medic ninja's get used to the shifts before hand."

"Go on, go on." She waved a hand, already busy chopping vegetables for dinner. "I understand, you've got to keep all the medic ninja's you can."

Sakura grinned cheekily. "Ha! Thanks. I'll go ahead and drag Ino with me, she's useless for the rest of the day. Bye Kurenai-sensei. Bye-bye Hinata-chan!"

"Bye-bye!"

With that, Sakura ran down one hallway and was soon rushing back out with a blond blur. I sighed in awe. I couldn't wait to be a kunoichi just like them!

"Don't worry Hinata, if you eat all you're food tonight I'm sure your father will train you again." Her nose wrinkled distastefully, a funny habit she had when she mentioned daddy.

"I w-wanna be s-s-stwong like Naru-kun and a-all my f-fwends."

"You will be." She chopped the vegetables idly. "I know you will. You'll be beautiful, and strong, and smart."

My cheeks turned red and I blused bright red. "C-can I go t-try now!" She gave a sweet laugh.

"Yes, while this is all cooking, we'll eat some of the snacks you made."

"Ok!"

Pushing of the stool I rushed outside to train so that I could show daddy and everyone how strong I was. One day they wouldn't have to watch over me all the time and I could protect them.

**XXX**

**Forgive the late post, and the last one of this chapter for a while! **

**But I'll circle back around to it.**

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